This invention relates to building structures and, more particularly, to building structures designed to house and store small vehicles such as bicycles, motorcycles, snowmobiles, and the like.
Recent years have seen an increase in popularity in many forms of recreation using small vehicles such as bicycles, motorcycles, and snowmobiles. In populated areas where large numbers of such vehicles such as bicycles are used daily, i.e., in cities and on college campuses, such increase in popularity has resulted in an increase in demand for protection of such vehicles. One form of protection proposed for bicycles and the like has been individual storage enclosures for rental or lease in such areas. The provision of adequate storage enclosures to meet such demands involves the solution of several problems including the provision of strong, secure storage areas which not only protect the bicycles and other vehicles from the effects of weather but also from theft and vandalism. An attendant problem is the provision of such protection in a minimum of space.
In the past, attempted solution of such problems has included the provision of individual, four-sided structures for each vehicle which take up relatively large amounts of space. However, such prior structures and others have required many parts, have been relatively difficult to assemble and manufacture on a mass production basis and have suffered from weaknesses in strength and resistance to theft and vandalism.
The present invention recognizes and provides a solution to the above problems by providing a storage apparatus which utilizes a minimum of space, is formed from a series of sandardized parts making it both inexpensive to manufacture and efficient to assemble, and yet is of extremely high strength and is very difficult to vandalize or break open. Moreover, the structure is designed to allow a plurality of units to be easily secured together while maintaining privacy and individual security for each storage area within the series of units. Use of space is minimized such that a group of enclosures can be easily located together in a centralized location near a dorm or living unit on a college campus, an office building, or the like. Further, the structure is designed to be highly resistant to weather over a long period of time.